Hello everybody!
   We are here today in this Sunday evening to talk with two of the Volta legends about the 12th edition of the Volta ao Porto that is about to start!
  
   And since it looks like you enjoy quizzes, I’ll give you a shot in finding out who our guests are:
   Our fist guest is the most famous Portuguese sprinter that never raced for the national team.
   Our second guest is the only rider to have ever won both the Youth and General Classification jerseys of the Volta, in the same edition.
  
   Did you guess the first guest already?
   Say welcome to Noe Bello !
   Noe, thank you so much for accepting to join us here today.
   “I’m the one who thanks for the invitation… being retired is boring!”
  
   But you sure made an impression while active by winning the Sprint Classification of the very first edition of the Volta, and won the respect of all cycling fans… Do you still follow cycling?
   “Of course, I still follow cycling and specially the sprints, although the excess wine may cloud my ideas nowadays…”
  
   I’m sure you still have a lot to teach us, and that’s exactly where I want to get. How do you see the Sprint Classification this year? Who are your favorites?
   “Well, its hard to say actually… there are some great sprinters and a bit

of luck might be what decides the winner.
   I would say that on the pole position we have David Pires (mirabelle), Jacinto Aldeia (Onie) and Tadaki Ko (Lusitano). All three have the skills and the support to get the victory, but we must not forget the ones like Salvador Yocemento (nonnies), Casper Jill (Leukefans), Duardo Salgada (Hommerts Cycling Team) and Marius Lassen (Hard Gaat Ie).
   I expect a close fight up to end of the Parade, where one of those guys will wear the get the Green jersey.”
  
   It will be indeed nice to watch, and I see you picked as your top three riders one that rides for a Portuguese team, and two that are Portuguese… that must be the heart talking!
  
   But now we must continue, and to discuss the most wanted jersey of them all: The General Classification, the yellow jersey.
   With us we have the other guest… did you find who he is?
   Of course you did, that was an easy one: welcome to Celso Leitão (blast)!
  
   Celso, everyone expected you to be preparing to race the Volta instead of being here commenting it… what happened?
   “Ah, don’t tell me about it… It was a disgrace…
   You won’t believe it, but I have been preparing for the Volta for a long time and I actually am in my top form, but somehow the team failed to sign up. I’m very sad but life must go on, right?”
  
   Oh that’s really bad luck, you would be one of the top contenders for sure… Who do you think has now the upper hand without your competition?
  

“The ones that already proved to be capable are certainly my strongest bets: the defending champion Damario Crusellas (The Doomsday Bunnies), former winners Chris Bauwens (Team Crazy Downhillers) and Goddard Scothern (Telstra) together with the Gilberto Morais (Greenride) that has behind him probably the strongest support we ever saw here.
   In a second line I would put Timothy Connor (Legia), Rodolf Leezer (Rode Stier), Rolf Enoch (scuppernong), Vitaliy Bayer (Hommerts Cycling Team), Felipe Maximiliano (Oekiewakkie) and Vincent Aerssen (minions of static).
   Giovanni Vischkens (Cremtec), Isidor Spoelberchs (Alpha Plus) and Conrado Pando (Team Zero1) will try to surprise everyone and get a stage win, while Eli Rictor (Peloton Pushers) is the big favorite for the time trials.”
  
   That is an impressive collection of names, and picking even a handful of names as the best candidates it’s a close to impossible task… however the Youth Classification seems easier to predict, what do you say?
   “I completely agree… for the back jersey I see Rodolf Leezer (Rode Stier) and Felipe Maximiliano (Oekiewakkie) as the big contenders, with Guálter Matos (Greenride) and Baltazar Pitillas (Alpha Plus) in a second line, but only because those two will have to work for the team, while the former will have full support and thus may have a better chance of succeeding.”
  
   And finally I would like to invite our guests to help me with this vintage Port wine bottle… as for all of you I hope you will enjoy this season’s Volta as much as we will enjoy. The Volta, and the wine!
  
  
   Written by freelancer Clark Kent to the OCM Magazine